NCAA Game Summary - Oklahoma State vs. Kansas

Kansas City, MO (Basketball News) - Joey Graham scored 25 points, including two clutch free throws late, as 10th-ranked Oklahoma State held on to beat ninth- ranked Kansas, 78-75, in the second semifinal game of the Big 12 Tournament from Kemper Arena.

Graham ended 10-of-11 from the line, while JamesOn Curry added 12 points for Oklahoma State (23-6), which will face Texas Tech in the title game on Sunday. The Red Raiders defeated top-seeded Oklahoma, 69-63, in the first semifinal to advance.

Daniel Bobik, John Lucas and Ivan McFarlin each netted 11 points for the third-seeded Cowboys, who will be looking to win their second straight Big 12 Tournament championship.

Wayne Simien paced Kansas with a game-high 30 points. Michael Lee added 14 and J.R. Giddens chipped in 11 for the second-seeded Jayhawks (23-6).

Clinging to a 75-72 lead with 22.8 seconds to go, Lucas would sink 1-of-2 from the line to make it a four-point game. After a timeout, Giddens drained a three to pull Kansas within 76-75 with 11.8 seconds to go.

However, Graham was fouled and would calmly hit two from the line to make it 78-75. Kansas had one last shot to force overtime, but Alex Galindo’s three was off the mark as time expired.

Kansas raced out to an eight-point lead by scoring 14 of the game’s first 20 points. Simien accounted for eight of those points on 4-of-5 shooting during the first seven-plus minutes of the contest.

Oklahoma State, though, clawed its way back into the contest thanks to a 12-5 run that trimmed the deficit to one. Curry’s two free throws capped the spurt and pulled the Cowboys to within 19-18 with under seven minutes left in the first half.

Aaron Miles’ layup would then give Kansas a 25-22 advantage with under three minutes left in the period, but Oklahoma State responded by closing out the stanza with a quick 8-4 spurt to regain the lead, 30-29, at the break.

The Cowboys looked for some breathing room in the second half. After Simien’s bucket staked Kansas to a 43-42 lead, Oklahoma State went on a 9-2 run to open up a six-point edge. Curry’s layup staked the Cowboys to a 51-45 advantage with around 12 minutes remaining in the contest.

However, Kansas fought back to knot the game up at 56-56 on Galindo’s three- pointer with 7 1/2 minutes to go.

Oklahoma State, though, started to gain some breathing room, as Curry’s jumper ignited a quick 8-3 run which stretched the margin to 64-59 with around five minutes to go. The lead would grow to six, 72-66, on McFarlin’s dunk with just under two minutes to go, but Kansas would not go quietly.